markpp

2006 QC 4x4 swb 48RE 15k miles;Now here is what my dealer mechanic told me yesterday. I asked him about the decal that is near my radiator that states: "warning lube ujoint after every oil chage". I told him that I have crawled my fat **** under the truck after you guys service and do the check list ; etc.. and I have never seen any signs where you have lubed any part of the drive shaft. I was very nice about it and he also tryed to be very helpful. He said that there is no zerk fitting and you just spray a lithiumn spray on the transfer case to front diff driveshaft ujoints. Now since I know a little about ujoint design, I know there is a dust/debri seal that is part of the needle bearing cup keeping contaminates from entering the bearings and one would think it would also keep lithiumn grease from doing any kind entering and especially lubricating??
Now when I got home I again crawled my fat **** under and found that both front drive ujoints have been heavily sprayed with a lithiumn grease. Note: this dealer has never done this before on my last four oil changes; only after I brought up the question about the warning decal.
Now I know there has been a lot of technical advances in ujoint design with materials and such; but I just can't see how spraying ujoints can lubricate cup bearings?? Any input ?? Thanks in advance

TonyB

Your dealer is whacked!

They (you too) should be using a needle adapter on the end of a grease gun. The needle is used to push a sealing ball aside, to be able to squirt grease into the u-joint.

Tony

matego

It will keep them from rusting.

For all the more work it is, I remove the front shaft to grease it. I work each joint around until I see grease start to come out each cap. Do yourself a favor and remove the shaft and grease it real good. Do you think that dealer will take responsibility for the dry cardigan joint when it fails?

ssandlin

You are not greasing the u-joints, you are greasing the double cardan joint located next to the transfer case. There are numerous threads on the subject, here is a link to one of them.

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...d.php?t=127834

Good luck, it's a real PIA.

SOhappy

"yeah, we lubed the u-joints, sprayed WD-40 on all of 'em."

kokalit

I have printed a copy of the picture in the above link. And even though I get the same service manager each time (I get free oil changes for a couple more years) I have to have them attach the picture to the work order in order to get that point lubricated.

LFD2037

In 37K mi. I've never lubed it. I think it really only needs to be done about every 30K mi. unless your in the mud or under water alot.


$.02!

DBLR

LFD2037,

Dodge has it listed to be lubed every 3750 miles for severe service or 7500 miles for normal usage.

LFD2037

BUT, do you know of anyone who has ever had their's fail due to not lubing it? I know they have failed, but usually due to other factors than not lubing them.

ThatGuy34

i have that stupid picture printed up and i still cant find the hole. i get everytime i crawl under the truck to find it.

matego

I was convinced that I did not have it either. I figured it was a generic sticker they put on all 4wd's. Once I removed the shaft to do the clutch I found it. Dont get discouraged, you'll hit the hole sometime

xeon

The dealer I delt with in NJ did the same thing to me. I even had them add it to the work order. It was in plain english. When I finally crawled under no grease nothing. Dry. I called my service rep with a long voice mail telling them they need to take care of that due to a 2500 mile trip I had ahead of me. No call. They are a "5 star" service center. I was going to call Dodge and complain, but where would that get me? So now I grease my own every oil change. Dodge needs to train techs better more so if the dealer sells diesels!

67HotRod

Complain to DC, knock them down to a 4 star!

ssandlin

In the pic the fitting is nice and shiny clean. In reality, yours is probably covered with dirt making it all the more difficult to find. Also, a flashlight is just about mandatory or you'll never find it the first time. To this day, I still use a flashlight.

Keep looking.......

rockcrawler304

X2

I know where it is and have it marked with a white paint marker and still use the drop light to hit the hole! Took me a couple oil changes to find it. I also got frustrated and gave up. Now it is much easier.